Calling all Kessil owners

[Scorpius]

If anyone needs any tips on taking a Kessil 360 apart let me know. I can take photographs and make a how to.

 

[Bradley Keck]

Thanks Billwill! I'm convinced guys. Going with the Kessils. I just decided to not go with a RO varios d/c controllable skimmer and instead went to my LFS where I had 178.00 in-store credit and purchased a RO 150 INT classic. Not the fanciest and maybe too little for my 150g. But, it will take a couple of years to get a heavy bioload, and who knows it may do the job just fine even then. Saved me over 300.00 by using the credit and going with a less expensive RO skimmer. There's almost one a360we right there!

 

[lbacha]

I have a a160we tuna sun over a planted tank and no issues, I really like the spectral controller as well. The magnetic mounting plate was a nice feature.

 

[Esage]

If anyone needs any tips on taking a Kessil 360 apart let me know. I can take photographs and make a how to.

That would be great if you could

 

[BigRedSpecial]

Two A160s over my corner diamond. It's not an easy shape to light and they cover it perfectly with no wasted coverage

 

[Digigill]

I have 2 A360WE's over one tank now for 3 years and have had problems with both of them. The first went out before the warranty expired and they replaced it. The second had one channel start to go out (flickered on and off) about 6 months after the warranty expired. They sent me a new loaner to use while I sent mine in to be evaluated. It turned out to be too expensive to fix so I purchased the loaner at a mild discount. In both cases the customer service was very good. These lights are hanging in open air, had no visible dust in the vents after disassembling, the fans seemed to be working well and the max intensity was 60% so heat shouldn't have been a problem. I would have expected to get many more years of life from these.

I also have 3 more A360WE's over a second tank that have been running for about 9 months with no problems. These are in a vented canopy with the top of the lights sticking through the top to pull in fresh cool air.

I've been happy with the light produced and my softies and LPS are doing well under them. Hopefully the first two was just a bad batch and the rest of mine will have a long and happy life.

 

[madweazl]

I have a pair of A360WEs over my 75g that were purchased used and I've been running them for just over 13 months now (put in use 9 Oct 2016). A few weeks go one of them flickered at lower intensity for a bit and went away yet to return. I blow them out a few times a year but probably need to do it more often even though there isn't much visible dust on them. My lights protrude through the top of my canopy. Outside of the one evening the one side flickered (that I'm aware of), they have performed flawlessly.

I also have a 2x54w LET fixture to supplement and while they have worked well, the reflectors on these units aren't very good. Initial impressions were quite positive but they get nasty spots on them relatively quickly that wont come off with a normal cleaning (need to be polished out). Performance wise, no complaints at all. I'm pleased with the combination and for the cost, they aren't a bad purchase. With that said, three A360s is pushing it in my opinion. Three were needed over my 75g for an SPS dominant tank but I couldn't add the third without making my canopy look like swiss cheese (the reason I added the T5s). IF you go with three, mount them in a fashion that will allow you to add a fourth if you're going to have an SPS dominant tank at some point.

I just purchased a 150g a few weeks back and will be going with Kessil on this tank as well. Not sure if I'm going to try five A360WEs and/or supplement with T5s and possibly four A360s.

 

[HB AL]

I have 5 160we over my reef/fish tank for the last 2 years. They have all been flawless except 1, the blue led's went out on one of them 3 months back, i called Kessil and they sent a replacement at no charge, thats excellent customer service. If you want the beautiful shimmer, great looks of tank under them, colorful growing corals especially acros, they will work for ya great.

 

[Bradley Keck]

Wow, thanks for this info everyone! I know that I am pushing it with only three over a 5ft length and 2ft depth, but hoping the t5's will take care of that. Thank you for letting me know about the reflectors! I really had my eyes on the Aruba sun t5 retro's, but BRS is out and the only ones I can find are with the extra power cord for the moonlight LED's. They are a little more expensive, and I just don't need the extra LED's and power cords for moonlight on the T5's. One thing I am planning is to have a considerable amount of negative space. Basically three islands if you will. I bought this size tank because it was on sale at SCA for 650.00 and I already had a 60in stand from my African cichlid set-up that I made myself with canopy. I had to modify it to fit 24in depth vs. the 18in depth my old tank was, but saved a lot of bucks that way. I knew it was going to be too expensive for me to do an SPS dominant 150g 5ft tank, so that's when I decided to use negative space, have a mixed reef, and keep my bioload lower. We'll see how well my plan works..

 

[David Nguyen]

If anyone needs any tips on taking a Kessil 360 apart let me know. I can take photographs and make a how to.

I would love to see that.

 

[Scorpius]

I would love to see that.

Give me some time. I'll see what I can do.

 

[GoVols]

Hey everyone on R2R!

I have been a member of RC for over a year and researching reefing for almost two years now. I just recently joined R2R and love it! I am a former african cichlid aquarist now moving on to saltwater. I have a 60x24x24 tank, trigger 34 sump, RO varios 6 return, and Tunze ATO purchased last year. I have been researching, watching, listening, and reading about lighting for a mixed reef set-up. I have considered just about every option for my enclosed canopy (back side completely open). Since a lot of fixtures are not recommended for a canopy, I have decided to go with a LED/T5 system. I plan to use 4x54w LET retro's, but have been stuck on which LED's to use (surprise right?) I have come across a good deal on three a360we Kessils, spectral controller and link cables, but am worried about buyers remorse after reading some of the reviews about Kessils going bad after 1-2 years on BRS's site. I am really pushing my budget as it is just trying to get what I need to get this thing up and going, and cannot afford to spend that kind of money only to have it go out in a year or two. I'm wondering how many Kessil owners are out there who have not had problems with there Kessil A360's. Is what I read the exception or becoming the rule? Did they not clean them enough or did they just get a lemon? How long do these pucks last really? Any help here would be great!

Bradley,
I run a Kessil A80/T5 hybird and love it but it's only been up and running a little less than a year.
Kessil does have second to none customer service and one of their engineers took the time to look over my reefs specs and gave me the green light with the a80/t5 setup.

Hope you've found the info that you needed and welcome to the Reef 2 Reef family

Regards, GoVols

 

[Bebow]

I’ve been running 3 A360’s for over 3 years now. I too came from freshwater, still have a FW 90. I converted a cichlid 125 gallon to salt with Kessil A360s on goosenecks then in February moved them to a 72” 180 mounted in a hood that I built with 2 60” T5 retro’s. Love the LED T5 blend! With an apex I run the T5s for 5 hours while the A360s ramp up to 90% for about 4 hours then back down to mostly blue in the evening, total time 13 hours. I did have to ventilate the Hood with a thermostat controlled fan. Love the A360s, have no regrets. Pictures are above.

 

[Bradley Keck]

Thanks GoVols! Wow Bebow, that is impressive! You should go into business! Your canopy and hybrid set up are so clean and well designed! Amazing!
Can I just say, this was my first thread I posted on R2R, and I cannot believe how helpful and kind everyone's replies have been! Thanks everybody on R2R!

 

[Bebow]

Thanks GoVols! Wow Bebow, that is impressive! You should go into business! Your canopy and hybrid set up are so clean and well designed! Amazing!
Can I just say, this was my first thread I posted on R2R, and I cannot believe how helpful and kind everyone's replies have been! Thanks everybody on R2R!

Thanks Bradley! I’d probably have to work for $3 an hour to go into business making these! I Have way to many hours in it.

 

[Bradley Keck]

Well, I think I'm gonna get sick, but I just went on a Black Friday spending spree. Purchased 3 kessil A360's, spectral controller, 2 uplink cables, H80 refugium light for my trigger 34 sump, goose neck for the h80, 2 aruba sun 2x54w retro kits without the LED's, 2 actinic ATI bulbs, 2 B+ ATI bulbs, and one ABS ATI bulb. That wasn't all, also got reef keeper +, Gyre x250 x 2, and 2 finnex 300w titanium heating elements! Oh Lord! I did get an incredible deal on the Kessils. Everything Kessil for just under 1200.00!;Woot

 

[Crabs McJones]

If anyone needs any tips on taking a Kessil 360 apart let me know. I can take photographs and make a how to.

I'd like to see this just for the educational aspect of it. I love watching video's like that on stuff I own in case I ever need it.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Well, I think I'm gonna get sick, but I just went on a Black Friday spending spree. Purchased 3 kessil A360's, spectral controller, 2 uplink cables, H80 refugium light for my trigger 34 sump, goose neck for the h80, 2 aruba sun 2x54w retro kits without the LED's, 2 actinic ATI bulbs, 2 B+ ATI bulbs, and one ABS ATI bulb. That wasn't all, also got reef keeper +, Gyre x250 x 2, and 2 finnex 300w titanium heating elements! Oh Lord! I did get an incredible deal on the Kessils. Everything Kessil for just under 1200.00!;Woot

 

[Fumanchu]

Dammmmmmmmmmm......

Lol .. that sounds like music

 

[roberthu526]

Based on my research it seems that many people that reported issues never cleaned their lights or didn’t have any protection against saltwater. I am running four 360we I bought used for 2+ years and they are just like new to me. Color, intensity, and shimmer are all great.